STOP error during boot after installing new adaptec driver

[gleather]

On Windows 2000 Server, I used windowsupdate to apply a few security patches and a more recent adaptec scsi driver.
On reboot, BIOS setup runs smoothly, but Windows fails with a STOP error, saying it can't see any harddrives. I will be contacting Microsoft shortly, but anticipate a long, painful process. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mda1]

Install a parallel installation of WIN2K. (ie: not in the WINNT directory)

Use that install to gain access to the file syaytem and replace the new driver with the fuctioning driver. Assuming that the Adaptec driver is what caused your problems.

Reboot into the original install of Winnt.

 

[gleather]

I fixed the problem like so:

I downloaded the firmware and driver for PERC 3/Si
making sure to get the same version of each.
I flashed the firmware.
I ran Win2k setup, specifying additional hardware (F6 and S), and pointed to the new driver.
Then I chose Repair - Repair Console and copied perc2cin.dll and perc2evt.exe into C:\winnt\system32.

The Repair Console is crucial, as it was the only way I could gain access to the NTFS partition.
I almost didn't do the second step, specifying additional hardware, but figured Win2k setup would error out if it didn't see the drive.

Hope this helps someone.

P.S. Dell Support was very helpful and pleasant.